The report concerns an eight-year-old boy in psychotherapeutic treatment for sleep disturbance, learning inhibition and anxiety attacks. His conflicts (repressed libidinal and aggressive wishes expressed as anxiety and guilt feelings) and defence mechanisms (intellectualization, denial, projection, regression) were remarkably similar to those of his mother. The authors therefore thought it appropriate to carry on weekly therapeutic discussions with the mother in addition to the two-year analysis of the son. They communicated the progress of the two therapies to each other. The report of this double treatment is at the same time a model for family therapeutic teamwork.